The Award of Merit was presented in honor of Ann Blomquist Poll by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts at its annual Honors Day Dinner on Saturday, April 20, 2013. Poll was born and raised in [Farnam,]Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music for voice. She moved to New York City and focused on a career in the field of financial services’ computer systems. She contributed to the design and implementation of computer systems for the American and New York Stock Exchanges and NASDAQ. In banking, she created and implemented banking computer systems for the Retail Banking Division and the Private Wealth Management Division at Banker’s Trust. She continued her music studies and performed regularly in solo recital and with choral music. She also served on the Hixson-Lied Advisory Board. At the time of her untimely death in 2006, she was Assistant Vice President at Deutsche Bank, where she played a key role in maintaining their international back office computer operations. Her husband, Dr. George Poll, created two generous endowed funds in Ann’s name at the University of Nebraska Foundation to support the School of Music, including the Ann Blomquist Poll Legacy Fund.

Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts